Character Creation
FFXIV’s character creation isn’t like any old character creation menu. Some players would tell you that this could potentially be one of the most important things you do at the beginning of the game. Players can take hours to shape and create their character’s features. Why? Because it’s not easy to change it again. You’d have to use something called a Fantasia which can only be obtained in one of two ways (more details on Fantasias below).
I’ll take you through the steps that you’ll take to create your character below so take a quick look here to see what might be important to you before heading over to FFXIV to create your own character!
Race & Gender, Clan
Appearance
Date of Birth
Patron Deity
Class
Character Name
Race & Gender, Clan
The first two selection menus you’ll come across is Race & Gender and then Clan. Here you’ll choose between the different races depending on your preference. Each of the races have two different clans, however you will not be able to choose your clan until you’ve chosen your race and gender. You may always go back to change your selection, though. Below you’ll be able to see the different clans prior to making your choice in-game. For lore and background, please visit Square Enix’s site.
Tip: In the bottom right corner of your screen you will see the headers “Pose” “Attire” and “Environment”. You can mess with the options to see your potential character choice in many different poses, clothes and lights/backgrounds.
Hyur
The Hyur design is most similar to humans. The clans you can choose from are Midlanders (left) and Highlanders (right)
Elezen
The Elezen design is based off elves. They are typically tall and lanky. The clans you can choose from are Wildwood Elezen (left) or Duskwight Elezen (right).
Lalafell
Lalafells are the shortest character and resemble children but they may be older than they appear. The clans you can choose from are Plainsfolk (left) or Dunesfolk (right).
Miqo’te
Miqo’tes are modeled after cats. They have cat ears and long fluffy tails. The clans you can choose from are Seekers of the Sun (left) or Keepers of the Moon (right).
Roegadyn
Roegadyns are typically large and muscular. The clans you can choose from are Sea Wolves (left) or Hellsguard(right).
Au Ra
Au Ra are modeled after dragons. They have unique scale patterns and a thin scaly tail. The clans you can choose from are Raen (left) or Xaela (right).
Hrothgar
Hrothgars are feline in nature like the Miqo’te but look similar to lions rather than cats. The clans you can choose from are Lost (left) or Helion (right).
Viera
Viera characters are similar to rabbits with their long leporine ears. They’re tall much like the Elezen. The clans you can choose from are Rava (left) or Veena (right).
Appearance
The third and most extensive selection menu you’ll see is Appearance. Ironically, this section is probably where you’ll spend the most time but where I’ll be able to help you the least.
You’ll just have to fenagle the settings of each aspect of your character until you’re satisfied with how they look. To the right you’ll see an image of an example of the Appearance Menu. The menu will change slightly depending on which race, clan, and gender you choose for your character.
Alternatively, you may click the ‘Randomize Appearance’ button in the top left corner if you’re the type of person to doesn’t care about looks. 😉
Date of Birth
As much as the previous section matters immensely (depending on your preferences) choosing the date of birth of your character matters not. Zilch. Doesn’t affect anything in-game. Feel free to dive deep into the lore to choose your favorite birthday or simply choose the date closest to your own.
Patron Deity
Guess what? This selection doesn’t matter in-game either! Another section where you could pick a random patron deity or spend hours reading lore to make your selection.Â
Class
Now that you’ve finished finessing what your character looks like to your preferences and selected a few other useless options, it’s now time to select your class.
Don’t worry, this isn’t “permanent” either. One of the great things about FFXIV is that you can actually play ALL of the classes (including gathering and crafting classes) on one single character.
However, at the beginning of the game you are limited to select classes. Other jobs are playable once you’ve reached and completed the level 10 quest on your original class and even more jobs are available at higher levels. Since you’ll have to play this particular class for at least 10 levels, it may be wise to choose carefully! (Ignore this if you are purchasing a level/MSQ skip).
Here, we’ll just talk about what you can select from the character creation menu. To see a comprehensive list of the current playable FFXIV classes and jobs, you can visit Square Enix’s official Job Guide or see our page on jobs and classes.
Below you’ll see an example screenshot of what your screen should look like once you reach class selection during your character creation.
In the bottom left corner you’ll see one of three cities that you’ll start your adventure in depending on which class you select. This doesn’t matter as much unless you have friends that you are starting the game with and you’d like to start in the same city. Eventually, you’ll gain access to all the cities.
In the top right you can toggle around the menu until you select which class you’d like to begin your adventure with.Â
Class vs Job
One of the more confusing concepts of FFXIV is what a class vs job is. According to Square Enix: “In FINAL FANTASY XIV, sufficient mastery of a class will open up the path to one or more related jobs and their respective actions.”
Simply put, a job is a sort of “upgrade” to a class. When you upgrade, you equip a stone that allows you to access special unique skills related to the job you are upgrading to. Later in the game you’ll gain access to other jobs that didn’t require you to level up a base class.
Although not something you’ll have to think about immediately, it will come naturally using the main scenario questline and may confuse you in the future.
3 Types of Classes/Jobs
Tanks
Healers
DPS
(Damage Per Second)
If you’re a tank, you’re in front sometimes in center. You’ll be grabbing aggro of all the mobs and bosses and you’ll be in charge of mitigations
If you’re a healer, your main job is to make sure no one dies. And if they do die, your job is to resurrect them. All without dying yourself.Â
If you’re a DPS (damage per second), you’re job is to not die and deal as much damage as possible to the enemy in front of you. Dodge the danger zones and oonga boonga.